The songs we sing can make use of beautiful imagery. God has given us the ability to communicate with word pictures. Metaphors and idiom are widely used to tell a story. Jesus used parables to get his message across. So, in order to fully convey a concept, songwriters may use imagery.  However, there are times when the ideas being represented can be lost in the imagery.

A few years ago, I asked a friend to explain what a song meant.  It was a popular worship song that most would remember singing. The words painted a beautiful picture but my friend was unable to tell me what it meant. He was frustrated and so was I.

There are times we will sing songs that escape any reason. I’m not talking about the fun, and sometimes goofy, novelty songs but rather songs of worship that we expect others to engage in. Remember, the goal of every worship leader, worship team, and pastor is to have the congregation fully participating in the celebration of worship.

Recently, this came to my attention, as I was aware of pre-believers who were attending the Sunday service for the first time. I knew that they had not been in church for a long, long time and that things were different. They did not know the terminology that permeates our Christian world. We were singing about rivers and rain, war and victory.

To be sure, the average unchurched visitor can figure out some things, but other things will be more difficult to understand.  Yes, if they return and are in church long enough, they will “come around” but the shocker comes when veterans of “church” don’t seem to understand.

Worship in song should avoid any distractions, including using phrases that need explanation. A worship song should be easily understood so all can abandon themselves to expressions of adoration of Almighty God. We as worship leaders should be sensitive to the visitors that walk into church, but also to the regular attendees.

The apostle Paul told the Corinthians, “I will sing with spirit and I will sing with the mind also”. (I Cor. 14:15). Paul was going much deeper in this passage than we are considering in this article, but the point is that worship is something that must be consciously done.

We recognize the awesomeness of God and so we worship with humility and abandonment. We recognize that he is the healer and so we worship him for his wonderful acts of love. We recognize that Jesus Christ is the sacrificial lamb so we worship him for the grace and mercy that he purchased with his own blood. Our minds do not go on hold when we stand to sing.

Some imagery songs that we sing are taken from scripture but, again, songs are not like sermons. We can explain the subtle nuances of the pictures painted by words in a sermon but, while we are singing, it is difficult to stop and explain the next song. And, really, should we have to explain the meaning of a song?

When considering what songs to sing, let’s make sure that nothing, including the imagery of worship, causes anyone to focus on the meaning and not on the one who is the object of our worship: Jesus Christ.